Business & Money | Wednesday 3 June, 2015 12:55 am |

For Karem Tas, appointed last month as new Executive Director of Audi Saudi Arabia, the task is "crystal simple". Not only "place Audi where it belongs... number one in the premium car segment", but also "far ahead of its competitors".

The 48-year-old petroleum engineer, who started his automotive career 22 years ago at Mercedes-Benz, is also a postgraduate in international management and advanced dealership management, with certificate programs from the IMD business school in Zurich and the UK's Cranfield school of management.

With a wide international experience covering Turkey, Russia and Middle East region, he knows his brand, products, market and plan.

Audi in Saudi Arabia

For the Saudi market, Tas considers leadership not only in sales terms, but most importantly in after sales and part supply, with the strategic support of the worldwide leading automotive VW group.

Looking from Audi's leadership in Europe with almost 200,000 units so far in the 2015 premium car sales, Tas aims at a similar leadership position in Saudi Arabia in the coming years, explaining that "opportunities are great in Saudi Arabia. The passenger car market is steadily growing to reach an expected one million cars in 2020, making it the 16th car market in the world. The high disposable income level boosted the premium market in KSA almost 110% over the previous year, to 27,000 units".

However, "to create the tomorrow, you need to know the past", says Tas, and Audi's famous "Vorsprung durch Technik" (progress through technology) is the exact motto to describe this continuity, with the brand's notable sports heritage in the Le Mans 24 hours race (13 victories from 16 starts) and many technologies such as the Quattro AWD, the lightweight construction or the TFSI engines.

Yet, all figures, heritage, technologies and models should converge "to deliver professional sales and after sales services to delight our Saudi customers more quickly and efficiently. Therefore, it is imperative that we tackle issues by being a true team player", concludes Tas, with the same applying to the used car market, an "absolutely vital and integral part of our strategy, through our pre-owned car concept."

Facts and figures

Within the VW group, Audi posted last year 10.5% growth in deliveries to customers (1,741,129 units), more than double the 4,5% worldwide growth of new passenger car registrations.

Such figures lead to Tas's motto: "Not beat the competition, make the competition irrelevant", especially with Audi's €53.8 billion revenue for the first time, €5.15 billion in operating profit and a return on sales (ROS) of no less than an automotive industry benchmark of 9.6%, from a portfolio of over fifty different models in myriads of configurations and accessories.